1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a head slider, head gimbal assembly, and hard disk drive including a thin-film magnetic head.
2. Related Background Art
A head slider formed with a thin-film magnetic head came into use in a hard disk drive in 1979. The head slider at that time has been referred to as mini slider in general. Currently, head sliders known as pico sliders have become mainstream. Such a head slider comprises a plurality of electrode pads, arranged in a single surface, for energizing a device in a thin-film magnetic head (see, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-285422).
From now on, as hard disk drives are made smaller at lower cost, head sliders are expected to become smaller and shift to those known as femto slider whose size is about 20% that of the mini slider.